Oy!

By Miss Kubelik

We cats don't make it there very often because it's so popular (and crowded), but we enjoy breakfast at Arthur's Nosh Bar in the historic St.-Henri neighborhood of Montréal. It's got great comfort food — the kind your bubbe would serve with love. But now Arthurs in the crosshairs of the Quebec language police.

If you look closely at the photo above, you'll see "Nosh Bar" stenciled on its window. Big no-no and a grave threat to the French language, apparently. This is a pain in the ass for the owners, who have been in business for 10 years and who have taken the trouble to trademark the name. They're trying to figure out a work-around.

There's no solving the idiocy of the current provincial government and the majority party, the Coalition Avenir du Quebec, but we have a possible solution for Arthurs. The French word for "nosh" (at least, according to our iPad translator, LOL) is "bouffe." If they just stencil in "Bouffe Bar" on the window below "Nosh Bar," they can maybe satisfy the gendarmes and enjoy some alliteration at the same time.

It's all so ridiculous. We look forward to the CAQ getting booted out of power in this fall's election. Meanwhile, we cats HISS.

Donald Crosses One Line Too Many. Mr. Kristi Noem Just Cross-Dresses.

By Miss Kubelik

There's a perfect headline in The Guardian tonight about Benedict Donald's latest Executive Order: "Trump Signs Order to Restrict Mail-In Ballots in Probably Unconstitutional Move."

Gosh, could American media write headlines like that? After all, as The Guardian correctly points out, "The US constitution gives the President no authority over elections, and expressly authorizes states to set election rules."(Look it up: Article I, Section 4, Clause 1.)

Take it from us, if an Executive Order from the President could magically fix problems with state-run elections, Lyndon Johnson wouldn't have troubled himself to make Congress pass the Voting Rights Act. He could have just wiped out Jim Crow and poll taxes at the ballot box with the stroke of a pen. But it doesn't work that way.

Donald's performative antics have gotten so silly, they deserve nothing more than an exasperated eye roll. Yes, Marc Elias and his valiant team at Democracy Docket will have to contest this latest EO in court. However, judges have become the biggest eye rollers of them all.

Take US District Judge Richard Leon, an appointee of the man we used to call The Worst Person Who's Ever Lived. (Trump long ago left George W. Bush in the dust.) Leon put a stop to Donald's $400 million Beyond Bad Ballroom today. It looks like the Congress will have to bless it now, and if folks on Capitol Hill value their jobs, they'll vote it down in a heartbeat. (Hint: It's not popular.)

Also today, US District Judge Randolph Moss permanently blocked a Trump EO that defunded NPR and PBS. "It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the President does not like and seeks to squelch," Moss wrote.

The judicial branch is really the only guardrail left, which seems an odd thing to say in the era of the Roberts Court — but Trump is definitely feeling it. If Donald's in the dumps about all this, he can comfort himself that maybe he's not the most ridiculous person in his orbit these days. There's Kristi Noem, for example. We cats PURR.

A Royal Error

By Baxter

Nobody expected to see King Charles II in the news today, but there he was. And all because Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News either made a nearly (if not completely) understandable typo, or he really doesn't know his English monarchs.

Sherman tweeted this morning: "WH expected to announce that KING CHARLES II will make a state visit next month. Likely to include address to joint session." Okay, how is that going to work?

At first we thought maybe it was the White House that got Charles's number wrong. (They're not bright.) But on closer look, Sherman was quote-tweeting an earlier Punchbowl post that had it right. So it was Just Jake. Tweeps immediately jumped in with all sorts of Charles II jocularity. Did you know that was a thing? Apparently it is.

After a few hours, Sherman must have figured out what was going on. "King Charles III," he said. "Not Charles II. The latter died 300 years ago. Sorry." The tweet didn't really help, because the jocularity raged on. 

As everyone pointed out ad infinitum, Charles II was the 17th-century king who succeeded to the throne after the English Civil Wars. He was known for his love of opulent dress, his interest in the arts, and his spaniels. (And in Forever Amber, he was played by George Sanders, which was, take it from us, terrific casting.) Journalism's in a sorry state when we can't decide if Sherman's goof was a typo or not. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

Going Over Like A Lead Balloon

 

"This was not a holiday address from the President of a great democracy to its citizens. This was a desperate tin-pot leader yelling into a microphone while cornered in his palace redoubt. Trump has been unraveling for weeks, and his speech tonight, like Trump himself, was unworthy of America and its people."

—Tom Nichols, The Atlantic

Next Thing You Know, Pete Hegseth Will Be Slapping Soldiers

By Zamboni

This is probably what the pathetic Pete Kegstand was trying to recreate at Marine Corps Base Quantico this morning.

What he doesn't understand is that the film Patton — made during the height of Vietnam — was trying to come to terms with the American penchant for war and what Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme US commander during World War II, dubbed the military industrial complex. Eisenhower is not a character in the movie, but he looms over it. It's an important work of art.

A main reason for its greatness is George C. Scott's masterful performance. (He refused the Oscar he deservedly won, by the way.) If only Scott were around to weigh in on Trump & Co.— we bet he'd have some choice words. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.

Canadians Not Yet Popping The (French) Champagne

By Zamboni

Despite the 30-day "pause" in Benedict Donald's stupidly ruinous tariffs, Canadians are still mad. Nobody's saying they're going to buy California wine and Kentucky bourbon again, and some are clamoring for the federal government to print maple leaf stickers that retailers can use to identify Canadian products. Today, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh popped into a Montréal grocery store for a press avail and photo op. "Boycott anything that's made in the United States," he urged shoppers.

What makes all this even more ridiculous is that both Canada and Mexico — like Colombia last week — agreed to negotiating "terms" that they'd already worked out with the US when President Biden was in office. It's unclear how many Americans realize this, but surely a lot of folks both north and south of our border do.

As for the world of sports, an additional note: We've already warned the Colorado Avalanche that they should brace themselves for some boos in Alberta this week. But that's not all, because — hang onto your toques — the US will play Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament at Montréal's Bell Centre on Saturday, February 15. We already feel sorry for whoever has to sing our national anthem that night. We cats HISS.

The Gulf Between What They Say They'll Do And What They Actually Can Do

By Baxter

It's only been one day — but are you already feeling under siege by the ever-minacious Benedict Donald and his fascist thugs? Are you anxious, even though none of his Executive Orders currently directly affect you? Do you find yourself wondering how early you can decently take an Ambien to get through the night? You're not alone.

We cats share your outrage, but we refuse to indulge ourselves in it. See, that's what they want. Autocrats like Trump would like nothing better than to know that you're spending precious time and energy fretting about them. Don't give them the satisfaction.

There's no doubt that these are not welcome days. But so much of what Benedict Donald did yesterday was performative nonsense. Many of his Executive Orders are unenforceable. Others are already being legally challenged. Some will never occur.

Our best advice right now is: Let's not let them yank our chain. It's going to be a long four years — and even though it's less than two years to the 2026 midterms, we still have to pace ourselves. In the end, truth will prevail. We just have to keep working at it. We cats PURR.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: A Day In Asshole-ery Edition

By Miss Kubelik

It's been a day of true stupidity, so much so that we cats have had to bundle all the examples we could find into one blog post. Here goes.

With a category 5 hurricane bearing down on his state, Ron DeSantis decided that he would not take a call today from the Vice President of the United States offering aid. Incredible. This pettiness all started back when defeated Republicans decided not to call their victorious Democratic opponents and graciously concede, and it's just gotten worse from there. In the meantime, whatever Democrat runs for Florida Governor in two years ought to make DeSantis's behavior a huge indictment on the Republican mindset — and lay it on the Republican nominee.

Some in the media continue to whine that Kamala Harris isn't giving interviews. Correction: She isn't giving them interviews. In the real world, Harris has sat down with 60 Minutes, The View, The Howard Stern Show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, MSNBC with Stephanie Ruhle, Univision, and — most recently and very smartly — Call Her Daddy, a podcast with 5.5 million young women listeners. We're tired of over-the-hill legacy media figures carping about this, but we understand why: They know they're irrelevant.

On the subject of journalists and pundits, will any of them mention that Benedict Donald once predicted that he would carry Virginia in November? Just wondering, since a recent poll by Wason Center-Christopher Newport University puts Harris up by 11 points.

It looks like Corey Lewandowski has been sent home to New Hampshire after losing a power struggle with Trump campaign pooh-bahs Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles. By the way, have LaCivita and Wiles ever produced the video evidence that the campaign promised would exonerate their team in the Arlington National Cemetery dust-up back in August? Have journalists stopped asking for it?

Finally, on the reproductive rights news front, brace yourselves for these: The Supreme Court refused to take up the Texas emergency abortion case (women will die). JD Vance says he's in favor of defunding Planned Parenthood (women won't get basic reproductive healthcare). The Georgia Supreme Court reinstated the state's six-week abortion ban (again, women will die). But all three stories will definitely drive women to the polls. Looking for silver linings, we cats PURR.

Happy Independence Day Eve

Dark Brandon has spoken. So we all need to saddle up. Meanwhile, though, there's a holiday to celebrate tomorrow, which means we're going to take the day off and rest up. We may even nap! We cats PURR.

NY-16 Jilts Jamaal (And That's A Good Thing)

By Baxter

A few days ago, Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman was joined at a campaign event by his House colleague, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, his fellow New Yorker and "squad" member (we hate that term). AOC campaigned enthusiastically for Bowman, but the two of them couldn't be more different. She's smart and savvy. He's an idiot.

Here's why. When you're elected to Congress, you have two immediate and overriding responsibilities: One is to your constituents, and the other is to your caucus.

AOC gets this. Personally, we think it's because Speaker Pelosi schooled her in the ways of the House when she got there in 2019. Pelosi never endangered legislation she was bringing to the floor, but she wisely gave AOC room to maneuver on various votes. At the same time, she made sure that AOC got good committee assignments, which have allowed her, even when she was a freshman, to shine. And out in the field, beyond her social media presence, AOC's been recognized for employing, yes, old-school — but effective — constituent services that help people in her district in tangible ways.

Bowman, on the other hand, failed at both. His responsibility to his caucus? Not stellar. Think back to last fall, when he pulled a Capitol Hill fire alarm during a crucial vote, just as Democrats were trying to stave off a government shutdown. Whether or not he meant to do it, it screwed up operations on the floor. The House censured him for it later.

(This is just the sort of tomfoolery that would enrage a member's leadership. Personally, we cats would never want Nancy Pelosi or Hakeem Jeffries mad at us. And yes, we know Hakeem contributed to Bowman's campaign. He has a habit of supporting his incumbents.)

Out in Bowman's district, though, his missteps were worse. He dug a deep hole for himself with his Jewish constituents after October 7, with remarks that we found unforgivable (even though he eventually apologized for them). But he could have climbed partway out of that hole by rededicating his efforts to voter outreach. Instead, he turned down Shabbat invitations and skipped meetings at Jewish community organizations. The extent of his personal interest in connecting? Asking a local Jewish leader if he had a photos of them together. "So I can show the world I'm friends with Jewish people." Ugh.

As for the money that flooded into yesterday's primary, AIPAC certainly pounced. But Bowman made himself unnecessarily vulnerable, and any well-founded screaming that's to be done about the money can't obscure that. Taking Hamas's side on anything is unacceptable, in our view. Bowman compounded it with overall foolishness: He never understood that as an elected member of Congress, he was automatically entered into the Democratic insider club. AOC has a keen understanding of how that club works, and she leverages it to her advantage by balancing it with her progressive views. Like we said, smart.

But that's Inside Baseball, isn't it? The bottom line is that if Bowman refused to meet his constituents even halfway — on the Israel-Hamas war, or anything else — that was truly not just a death knell for his Congressional career but a sadly missed opportunity. We cats HISS.

(P.S. The onus was doubly on Bowman to reach out since his district was redrawn to include less of the Bronx and more of Westchester. We cats always want to defend fellow Democrats, but we cannot condone stupidity. That's for the Trumpsters. We HISS again.)

Tidbits And Cat Treats: Reich And Wrong Edition

By Zamboni

It took a little while, but Benedict Donald finally deleted the video he'd posted on "Truth" Social that promised a "unified reich" if he wins in November. He won't win, but the never-ending Nazism, and the media's and Republicans' failure to call it out, continue to be deeply disturbing. Here are some other news items we're following this morning.

The latest manufactured outrage on the right is that Benedict Donald was in danger of assassination when the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago for stolen classified documents in 2022. First, Trump wasn't even there when it happened. But more important, permission for deadly force if necessary is always included in such orders, because agents never know what they're going to come up against. The fact that Trumpsters have suddenly started screaming about this suggests that they expect a guilty verdict in Manhattan next week and are trying to distract us from it.

(Sadly, the truth is that we won't fully know the extent of the damage Trump has wrought by taking those documents — perhaps for a long time. But when we do find out, it will be shocking and extraordinary.)

Rudy Giuliani is so desperate for cash that he's selling coffee now. And of course, internet wags have leaped to make puns about drips and filters. But the best Rudy story from the last week has got to be that his indictment in the Arizona fraudulent elector case was served at his 80th birthday party. Well done, state Attorney General Kris Mayes!

Wringing your paws over battleground polls? Today a poll in Nevada revealed dead-heat results, completely contradicting a recent New York Times survey that had President Biden way behind. We cats have had enough of this nonsense. Here's the deal: To get re-elected, Biden needs to win Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan — all states he won in 2020. Benedict Donald needs to win Nevada, Georgia and Arizona (all of which he lost four years ago). He also needs to win Wisconsin, Pennsylvania OR Michigan (which, reminder, he lost last time), and keep North Carolina. The Biden-Harris road to victory is much clearer. Expend your campaign energies and dollars appropriately.

It turns out that Howard Dean will not run for Governor of Vermont this year after all. (Miro Weinberger, ex-mayor of Burlington, has also decided against running.) Since popular Republican incumbent Phil Scott has already thrown his hat in the ring for the fifth time, this means that we cats will probably have to spend at least the next two years worrying about Bernie Sanders's health.

Finally, some good news: Two weeks ago, we posted about the arduous process we had to navigate to vote early in our local school board and budget election. It was important to leap the hurdles because two Democrats were running, as well as a MAGA nutjob who we needed to keep off the board by voting for a less-Trumpy incumbent. Well, it worked! The budget and a bus bond passed, the incumbent Republican won, and our two Democrats — one a professor at Empire State and an expert on LGBTQ issues, and the other a development officer for Planned Parenthood — were the biggest vote-getters. Sweet! Every vote in every race counts. We cats PURR.

Aurora No-More-Alis

After all our excitement over the total eclipse of the sun last month, we cats have managed to completely miss the Northern Lights from this weekend's geomagnetic storm. We were out last night, and we saw nothin'. So here's the aurora if Benedict Donald saw it (with help from some colored Sharpies). We cats PURR.

Tidbits And Cat Treats: Actions, Meet Consequences Edition

 

By Baxter

It's been a busy week, and we cats are trying to catch up, because next week looks like it's going to be even more lit. And that's saying a lot after eight days of great jazz, a flawlessly performed Beethoven symphony, and "Randy Rainbow for President" (not to mention a total solar eclipse). Here are a few items we're digesting along with our three breakfasts this morning.

Who runs Stormy Daniels's Twitter account, and why do we think it's actually her? She so sassy and funny. While she'll no doubt be more demure when she takes the stand in Benedict Donald's upcoming hush-money trial (it starts Monday!), she's still making a serious case for national treasurehood online.

Did you hear about the pro-Palestinian activist who threatened the city council of Bakersfield, California (and who's in big, big trouble for it)? During the meeting's public comments section, she told the council, "We'll see you at your house, and we'll murder you." Is she nuts? And isn't that what actually has already happened — to Israelis on October 7?

Following his "deeply weird" meeting with Benedict Donald yesterday, Preacher of the House Mike Johnson is sure to find out that Everything Trump Touches Dies. Meanwhile, the interwebs are having a field day with both Johnson's and Trump's body language: Johnson did a backhand thumb gesture toward Trump when he said the words "hardened criminals," and Trump clearly made Johnson walk in back of him at their exit. (Johnson briefly considered giving Donald a friendly touch on the back, but then quickly changed his mind.) Hilarious!

Finally, we've seen it suggested that President Biden's turnaround in national polling didn't start with his barn-burning State of the Union address, but instead, around the time of the Super Bowl. You see what happens, MAGA, when you start trashing Taylor Swift? We cats PURR.

Republicans Hate Everybunny

By Hubie and Bertie

Are you as tired of GOP faux outrage as we are? You've likely heard about the so-called Christians on the Republican side getting all upset that President Biden is observing International Transgender Visibility Day — simply because this year, it falls on the same day as Easter. (Or perhaps we should say, Easter falls on it, since Easter is the holiday with the date that moves.) Oh, well! Happy ITVD, everybody, and we'll see you at the White House Egg Roll tomorrow. We cats PURR.

Happy Presidents Day

By Hubie and Bertie

Note to anyone foolish enough to buy the latest gewgaws that Benedict Donald is hawking: You won't see your purchase for months, if at all.

"Trump Fragrances are expected to start shipping in June 2024. Trump Sneakers are expected to start shipping in July 2024 for the gold High-Tops, and the Potus 45 White Knit and Red Wave Knit are expected to ship in August 2024. Shipping and delivery dates are estimates only...We cannot guarantee when your order will arrive."

If you're not one of those folks, you can spend Presidents Day savoring this latest poll of Presidential scholars on the best and worst POTUSes. See if you can guess where Benedict Donald lands. We cats PURR.

"Don't Bother / They're Already Here"

"I’m emotionally exhausted. A week from today, people of my district will begin voting for me or my opponent to represent their voice in DC, BUT the institution has gained yet another bruise delivered by the Clown House Republican majority.

"I wake up, every day, and take my oath seriously — only show up to work and be met with people hell-bent on sideshows instead of solutions. These people are dangerous.

"The few Republicans that joined us still hold some reverence for our work. The others are just doing whatever they can to please a man who truly earned his impeachments and should have been convicted. But maybe convictions will come from the nonpolitical juries that he is trying his hardest to avoid."

—Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-TX)

Is This Real?

We're still waiting to find out if this alleged post by Lauren Boebert is a parody. Which it might be. But as long as it's hard to tell, we cats have decided to HISS and PURR at the same time.

Still Empty

By Baxter

We cats have been on the road today, but have been trying to keep up with the Republican bedlam in the House. No more Speaker votes? Empower pretend-Speaker Patrick McHenry to do stuff until they get their act together? No! wait — maybe they will vote tomorrow after all. Gym Jordan hasn't learned that the definition of crazy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

So, still no real Speaker. In the meantime, though, Patrick's been doing a little redecorating. We cats LOL.

P.S. Big news day today, so we'll have more to say anon on Dark Brandon's address to the nation and Sidney Powell's Kraken-up.

Picture Of The Day

Ladies and gentlemen, the Speaker Pro Tempore of the United States, "Petit Pat" McHenry of North Carolina. (See, we can do Trumpy nicknames, too!) He doesn't have very much power, but since he's only about five-foot-six, he likes to pretend that he does. We cats HISS.

Republicans' Week From Hell

 

It's always risky to accept anything Benedict Donald says as even remotely true. But it seems logical that he'll follow through with this.

What better way for Trump to spend his time this week than by 1) disrupting the GOP Presidential debate via Tucker Carlson on Wednesday, and then 2) stepping on any Thursday bounce a candidate might receive from a good performance?

But don't expect anyone to shine in Milwaukee. The "debate," with or without Trump, will be a silly clown-car event to begin with. And, if you accept this interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, completely pointless. We cats PURR.